Total pages in book: 158
Estimated words: 145803 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 729(@200wpm)___ 583(@250wpm)___ 486(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 145803 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 729(@200wpm)___ 583(@250wpm)___ 486(@300wpm)
His declaration was unexpected. Vienna and Shabina exchanged a look of surprise.
“Which of your friends handles a gun like that? She nearly took off my arm. You said Raine’s the one shot. I can’t imagine the senator’s daughter knowing how to shoot like that.”
Vienna put her finger to her lips to caution Shabina. “He’s fishing,” she mouthed. She didn’t want Larsen to know who was with her. Maybe, in the end, if he managed to kill Vienna, he’d let the others go free.
Shabina nodded her understanding. She stayed alert, her attention on the trail.
“Might be that dinky one from Russia.”
Zahra would have exploded if she had heard him. She wasn’t Russian. She was from Azerbaijan but had been raised in Uzbekistan. Vienna didn’t respond.
“Could be the little gorgeous one, daddy’s little darling, mommy from Saudi Arabia, although I can’t imagine her doing anything more than ordering her maid to help her dress.”
Shabina lifted an eyebrow and then covered her mouth, her eyes dancing with laughter. That allowed Vienna to remember her sense of humor. If Shabina could find amusement in the disastrous situation after all she’d been through, Vienna certainly could.
“Could have been the blushing bride. We do know Stella Harrison is getting married in a few days. My condolences to the groom.”
“Don’t count your chickens, Larsen,” Vienna said.
“It’s one of the three of them,” Larsen continued, ignoring her comment. “Unless you lied about Raine being the one shot earlier. Just because she dropped her pack doesn’t mean you were telling the truth about which of the women was hit.”
Vienna strained toward the sounds coming a distance from them. This was just a bit longer stretch of trail. Still, she heard him tear off something.
“There should be a medical kit in Raine’s backpack. A good one,” Vienna said. “Your arm is probably numb and you can’t use it very effectively at the moment . . .”
“Don’t you worry, honey,” he snapped, his normal calm disappearing for just a moment. “I can defend myself against amateurs like the two of you.”
Larsen was hurting all right. She’d scored two hits on him. They weren’t lethal and probably no more than a couple of flesh wounds. Shabina’s shot had torn the gun from his hand and most likely left him with a broken hand and possibly wrist. His arm had to be numb, and like Vienna, those splinters of rock embedded in the skin had to have stung like hot, angry bees. They might not be scoring a kill shot, but they were picking him apart.
“I was more concerned with you being able to treat your wound. I’m a nurse, remember?”
There was a short silence and then he laughed. His laughter was genuine. Like Shabina and Vienna, he had suddenly found humor in the situation.
“What were you going to suggest? That we call a truce so you could treat my wounds? I suppose you don’t want me to get infected.”
“Sepsis is a nasty way to die, but no, even if you gave me your word that I’d be safe, I wouldn’t trust you. I do have some self-preservation left.”
“Good for you,” Larsen praised. “In another life, Vienna Mortenson, I think I would have gone out of my way to protect you. It’s rare that I wasn’t happy with my boss’s order of who to kill. Don’t worry though, I won’t hesitate. If I have the shot, I’ll take it. I’ve never been much of a bleeding heart.”
“I wasn’t worried, Larsen. I expect you to follow the plan.” She glanced at her watch. The forest seemed eerily silent, but in the distance she heard the sound of helicopters.
Larsen swore. “The cavalry is coming. I see now why you persisted in following me when you’re really too intelligent for such a stupid move. I actually do admire your courage, Mortenson. You’re sacrificing yourself for nothing though. Sooner or later, I’m going to kill all of them.”
“There’s that possibility,” Vienna agreed. “But I could always get you first.”
He gave a snort of derision. “Don’t fool yourself into thinking you’ve got a chance. This isn’t Vegas and a card game. It isn’t a game of chance. This is all about experience, lady.”
She could hear again that he was backing away from them. He would have to get out of the open if the military ended up dropping soldiers into the area to hunt him. Even if the helicopters flew overhead, the soldiers manning their guns would be able to kill him as soon as they spotted him. It wasn’t as if there was adequate cover. His only real chance was to get to the forest and stay out of sight.
She reached out a hand to Shabina and indicated she needed to get on her feet. Her ankle was throbbing with pain, but once she put her weight on it, that pain exploded into agony. She forced air through her lungs and breathed away the worst of it, willing what felt like torture to settle back to the throbbing she’d thought was bad before. She would welcome that kind of pain now that she knew the difference.